Desperate to regain control, CPM cadres rampaged through Nandigram I block today, entering village after village as they fired blanks in the air. Terrified villagers fled, seeking shelter in school buildings and relief camps. By evening, the numbers in the camps had swelled to 3,000 plus.

Not only did the CPM urge Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee not to deploy the CRPF in the area but it also kicked off an unprecedented row by openly attacking the state Home Secretary for his remark that gunshots were fired from an area dominated by the party.

The violence prompted Raj Bhavan to issue a statement saying Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi was monitoring the situation and had brought to the notice of the state and the Centre the “divisive activities by outsiders”.

Such was the ferocity of the attack by CPM cadres today that for the first time in 10 months since the blockade of Nandigram against a SEZ plan which has since been dropped, the Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee (BUPC) — the Save Land Committee — was on the backfoot, pulling out from village after village and looking for cover in relief camps.

On the other hand, nearly 1,500 CPM supporters, who had been living in the camps all these months, started moving back to their homes.

With most villages still out of bounds — armed squads have dug up trenches and snipers have taken positions — panic-stricken villagers had difficulty even fleeing, most on foot and others on cycle rickshaws.

BUPC leaders demonstrated outside the police station, demanding in vain that the police act. East Midnapore police chief S S Panda said: “We know all this, but what can we do? If we step out, we are blamed. Let them (parties on both sides) call a meeting and tell us to crack down, then we shall see.”

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